Best Inventor Ghana (BIG)

            *Unemployed youth demonstrating for decent jobs.

Youth Unemployment, that's ages 15 to 24 years, a hindrance to the growth of Ghana's economy. Ghana is faced with 12% youth unemployment, a total of about 840,000 out of about 7 million youth, on September 29, 2020, Accra-Ghana, A World Bank report revealed. In Ghanaian Times, a local news paper on November 5, 2021, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Simon Osei Mensah called on the youth to make efforts to create own jobs. The youth employment challenge is not limited to only Ghana. GENEVA (ILO News) -- Recovery in youth employment is still lagging, according to new report by International Labor Organization (ILO) which confirms that, the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt young people more than any other age group. On the global-scale, the number of unemployed youth is estimated to reach 73 million in 2022, a slight improvement from 2021(75 million) but still 6 million above the pre-pandemic level of 2019, says International Labor Organization(ILO) on August 1, 2022. A critical research on Covid-19 and the youth-to-adult unemployment gap, by I Z A, World of Labor (Evidence-based policy making), indicates that the youth labor market is bearing the brunt of the pandemic. In United States, prior to COVID-19, it was well established that there is a vast gap in the talent pipeline to meet changing economic imperatives. For instance, the National Association of Manufacturing and Deloitte estimated that by the year 2025, there will be 3.5 million STEM jobs -- and as many as 2 million of these jobs could go unfilled. In Ghana, A comprehensive analysis published by Palgrave Macmillan, Cham on October 21, 2019 on Springer Nature shows that despite the investment by the government and private sector into Ghana's economy, youth employment challenges still persist and on the rise due to,

• lack of formal education. 
• lack of formal qualification and skills. 
• white-collar job mentality. 
• lack of entrepreneurship education. 
• lack of capital. 
• rural-urban migration. 
• gender inequality(been female).
• lack of previous work experience. 

73 million youth face employment challenges in the world. Obviously we're thinking of how to resolve this global challenge entirely, but our initial focus will be on the 840,000 youth who live in Ghana. I and my team are working hard to help these vulnerable Ghanaian youth to create decent jobs by and for themselves and we are poised to help achieve United Nation(UN)'s Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 8.

      *A trained youth in a competition, marketing his products.

Best Inventor Ghana (BIG) is a continues provision of employment opportunity and job training through invention education to unemployed youth living in Ghana and then sell its products on the open market, alongside Annual National Invention and Innovation Competition with prizes. This program seeks to unearth the invention potentials and capabilities of the youth living in Ghana by encouraging them to acquire knowledge in design thinking, inventive/innovative skills, creative and problem-solving skills, entrepreneurship skills, and motivation through,

• entrepreneurship education and training. 
• guidance and counselling. 
• coaching or mentoring.

This helps the youth become independent and channel their skills into designing, building, creating, constructing or inventing anything of their own in this competitive world, using any available material resource around them. This training (knowledge, skills and motivation acquisition) is an on-going process throughout the year and takes place; 

• on WhatsApp Business platforms (main technology use);
• in their local communities/invention camps;
• through SMS (for those in remote areas);
• through regular phone calls.

Through the main technology, WhatsApp Business (group platform), the unemployed youth receives lectures, presentations, documents and resources related to social entrepreneurship pedagogy and theory from our team periodically, whiles they work on their inventions. The trainees also share videos and photos of their inventions with our team from stage to stage. Our team gives them advise and guidance so they build better products and this is an on-going process throughout the day, all year round. All these takes place on WhatsApp Business platforms. From time to time, our team goes round to inspect their work in their local communities and invention camps, staffed by volunteers and cadre of local teens who were trained under our program Best Inventor Ghana (BIG), whiles they prepare towards the annual national invention and innovation competition.

Program schedules and registration:

Officially enrolment starts on January 1, training begins on February 1, and ends on June 1 each year for skills acquisition. From there, trainees move to production stage where they come out with their products to be sold on the open market. Meanwhile other unemployed youth are allowed to join at any stage, we have "no youth is left behind" policy. Registration is open to all and is free. You only pay to participate in our annual national invention and innovation competition.

We schedule dates for the national competition. We run advert on one of the National Television Stations for one month to create awareness so interested inventors can register and participate. We have three judges, two presenters and a team of videographers. Attendance is open to the general public and it's free. The program is shown as a reality television series to name the "Best Inventor in Ghana". The program serves as a marketing or advertising platform for the youth leading them to future entrepreneurs.

 * A trained team in a competition, marketing their inventions.

Our solution serves almost everybody, but our focus is on unemployed youth ages 24 years and below living in all communities in Ghana, including those often labelled as "Marginalized" or "Disenfranchised", women and girls, rural areas, peri-urban, poor, low-income, refugees and internally-displaced persons, minorities and previously-excluded population, and persons with disabilities.

Currently these people are underserved in the following ways.

(1)-There is a lack of job opportunities for these young people, which makes it difficult for them to find employment and build their career.

(2)-Targeted education programs related to skills development or entrepreneurship often ignore unemployed youths due to inadequate funding or low awareness of such services among at-risk populations.

(3)-Inadequate social safety nets and training programs tailored specifically towards unemployed young people who need support such as skills building workshops have not been established by local organizations yet in many areas with high levels of unemployment among young population.

(4)-Young workers may also experience difficulty accessing social security benefits due to the fact that they typically haven't built enough years' worth of income into an account where funds could be withdrawn from if required after-unemployment has been experienced -- this leaves some facing real financial hardship despite being unemployed through no fault of their own.

(5)-These people are not getting the necessary support needed to create their own jobs. They lack,

• formal education;
• knowledge in design thinking;
• inventive/innovative skills;
• creative and problem-solving skills;
• entrepreneurship skills;
• access to capital.

Through continuous training on WhatsApp Business platforms and in their local communities/invention camps, these young people learn how to add value to their products and some entrepreneurship skills, they learn topics such as;

• electronics;
• robotics;
• 3D printing;
• software development;
• their own traditional inventions***;
• creativity and branding;
• marketing strategies;
• networking strategies;
• time management;
• effective communication;
• basic financial skills;
• leadership skills.

All these skills helps them to present themselves professionally on stage during the annual national invention and innovation competition which serves as a Marketing or Advertising platform.

           * Winner of Best Inventor Ghana (BIG) 2021.

                                         AWARDS / BENEFITS

• The winner in the competition receives a cash prize of GHS 10,000 (USD 833), a trophy and a certificate of participation.
• Participants receives gifts in-cash and in-kind from the general public, that's viewers and some companies.
• Other participants receives certificate of participation and other gifts.
• Participants are exposed to the world of business and potential investors through increasing public awareness of their inventions.
• Participants builds networks and exchange knowledge in the technological world.
• Participants builds their confident level and this helps them create quality products.
• Jobs are created. Participants are connected to buyers during the competition (at the competition grounds and whiles the program is been aired on the national television). Some receives contracts and continue to work on them when the competition is over.

These are having a great impact in the lives of participants, their family members, friends and the communities in which they live.

      *Trainee getting raw material (Bamboo) from the bush.

A Community Approach To Accelerating Equity-Focused Invention Program: Invention Camps.

2015-2020, our team travelled to low-income communities, rural areas mostly women/girls struggling to survive, peri-urban zones full of refugees, internally-displaced persons, and persons with disabilities, across the country to observe the kind of job they do. We came across thousands of young people engaged in hand-on-activities and through interview, we realised that they needed help to progress in their work and have a meaningful life.

Upon return, we decided to go back to them and get more insight of what their problem were. Sometimes we spent days, weeks;

• living, working, coking and eating with them;
• going to the forest, scrub-yard, dump-site with them in search for raw-materials such as bamboo, cane, copper-wires, aluminium-sheets;
• going to the market-center with them to sell their products, when customers comes around we stay back, we don't involve ourselves, we just wanted to see their bargaining power;
• in some cases, we buy some of their products for them to see and feel how valuable they are;
• sometimes we join them to celebrate their festivals, and we sit close to their chiefs/traditional leaders. I've been enstooled in some communities as "DEVELOPMENT CHIEF". 

We did all these to understand their needs and obstacles. 

We recognized that all these communities including those often labeled as "marginalized" or "disenfranchised", are filled with knowledge, skills, ideas and solutions that if respected and supported, can scale-up in ways that advanced sustainability, impact and self-determination.

• Our team see the people we serve fully without judgement or qualification, recognizing that all people have unique gifts and assets.
• Our intimate knowledge of these communities has enable us to find ingenious ways of connecting people.
• Our team recognised that we're part of a large group who are walking together on the same path. Members of these communities we serve also feel that they belong to each other. The stronger one's community ties, the stronger one's assets and ability to strive.
• Our team strive to ensure that the people we serve feel they have "agency"--a person's believe that they can shape their own future, relationship and environment, and they can change the world.
• Our team are optimistic and believe that no matter how challenging things are right now, they can get better. We try to help the people we serve also have the same sense of possibility.

Our team in collaboration with the communities and their leaders established INVENTION CAMPS base on their needs, inputs, ideas and agendas. These community-based program immersed participants in the process of designing and inventing over multiple weeks or months. "At invention camps, it's like Choose Your Own Adventure. You get to decide what interests you. And from there on, you use your creativity". These invention camps are staffed by volunteers and cadre of local teens who were trained under our program BEST INVENTOR GHANA (BIG).

These have created a very strong relationship between our team and the communities we serve.

 We are applying to Solve on the following grounds.

• To become a Solver so that we will join the MIT-backed network in order to receive nine months of personalized support from Solve staff and Members of Solve's cross-sector social impact community so we will build the partnerships needed to accelerate our work, validate our impact and business model, and scale our solution.
• Our team need financial support to scale up our solution, that's to train at lease 50,000 unemployed youth in Ghana by five years time.
• Technically, our team need expects to help design a standard website with a well structured store where products can be displayed for worldwide access.
• On the market front, our team wish to have our website more visible on Google networks and drive more traffic.
• Again our organization has taken advantage of MIT Solv[ED] Youth Innovation Program and has joined the Amplify Network. Our team is now accessing communications and updates about Solv[ED] offerings. Our team has started promoting Solv[ED] Challenges and offerings through our open networks. We are making good use of Solv[ED] Toolkit and are preparing some of the youth to participate in the upcoming Solv[ED] Youth Innovation Challenge which opens September 1, 2023.
• We hope Solve can connect us with partners in all these areas so we can scale up our program successfully, and also have a strong partnership with MIT Solve so we can learn more about your outstanding programs.

*A trained youth riding his river bike, on the market for sale.

              Our solution is innovative in the following ways.

• Our solution encourages critical thinking & problem-solving skills, participatory and hands-on-learning. Training the youth how to identify particular problems in their communities that need solutions, and encouraging them to come up with potential solutions via design thinking or other inventive exercises.
• Our solution empowers creativity through play. Creating a safe space where the youth are able to experiment, think freely, let go of preconceived notions and explore alternative pathways without judgement or fear of failure. 
• Our solution also foster entrepreneurship among young people thereby reducing youth employment challenges in Ghana and the world as a whole -- teaching them how they could turn their ideas into a viable business opportunity that creates jobs not only for themselves but also others in their local communities.
• Our solution is original and unique in the sense that, it's the first ever invention television reality series in Ghana. it has no barrier, it is open to all with the youth at center. Those who join never graduate, it's an all-in-one program, that's, it's a continues training, learning, competing, marketing and advertising platform. It trains people both in their local communities/invention camps and by using technologies such as Business WhatsApp platforms, SMS and regular calls.
• It is feasible, it is in existence, it is running live and everybody can see and attest to that. We organise and show the competition on national television every year. In 2021, it was shown on ATV/GNTV every Sunday evening for sixteen weeks. In 2022, it was shown on ONE HD-TV every Saturday evening for four weeks.
• It redefines the status quo, that's it transforms the way the youth in Ghana thinks about getting a decent work. It has help to introduce new costumers to the Ghanaian market because it profoundly changes the way the people live in Ghana.
• It is something the unemployed youth in Ghana  actually need. It is easy to join, free to join and very effective. It helps participants produce quality inventions there by putting quality products on the market. It adds value to their products and improves their lives.
• It keeps the world moving forward. It provides decent work for unemployed youth in Ghana there by increasing Ghana's economic growth and automatically increases the world's economic growth. 

*A trained team on a stage, marketing their bamboo products.

• Our impact goes for the next year.                                                          We will enrol and train 10,000 people to acquire entrepreneurship skills in most communities often labelled as "Marginalized" or "Disenfranchised" across the country. These includes people living in low-income communities, rural and peri-unban areas, women and girls, children, the poor, persons with disabilities, refugees and internally-displaced persons, minorities and previously-excluded population. 60%, that is 6,000 of these trainees will be women & girls, and persons with disabilities. At least 80% of these trainees will be producing, selling their products on the open market and making money.
• Our impact goals for the next five years.                                                In five years time, these peoples knowledge, skills, ideas and solutions will be scale-up in ways that advances sustainability, impact and self-determination. In five years time, we will achieve a full and productive employment and decent work for 50,000 unemployed youth, especially women & girls, and persons with disabilities living in low-income communities, rural and peri-urban areas in Ghana and they will all have good monthly earnings. 60%, that is 30,000 of these trainees will be women & girls, and persons with disabilities. At least 80% of these trainees will be producing, selling their products on the open market and making money. Again in five years time, all these people will feel that they have "agency" -- a person's believe that they can shape their own future, relationship and environment, and they can change the world.

How to achieve this.

(A) A Community Approach To Accelerating Equity-Focused Invention Program: Invention Camps. We have some invention camps in the country. We will set up more in low-income, rural and peri-urban areas in Ghana where needy people like women & girls, persons with disabilities, can walk-in, learn and work on their products. This community-based program immersed participants in the process of designing and inventing over multiple weeks or months. "At invention camps, it's like Choose Your Own Adventure. You get to decide what interests you. And from there on, you use your creativity". Invention Camps are staffed by volunteers and cadre of local teens who were trained under our program Best Inventor Ghana (BIG). 

(B) Our organization founders will engage the following stakeholders to support Best Inventor Ghana (BIG).

1) Corporate and Foundation Funders: We will invite funders to our advisory board which will allow them to have a place at the table in vision, planning, and implementation.

2) Policymakers: We will invite elected officials to come and observe our program first-hand, and interact with participants and instructors.

3) Community Leaders: Chiefs and traditional leaders will be invited for maximum support for inventions.

4) Educators: We will invite interested educators on board to implement the invention program.

5) Parents & Caregivers: We will invite parents and caregivers to come and see the benefits of invention education first-hand.

6) Children: We will create opportunities for BIG students to offer testimonials about the values of BIG to policymakers and district leaders. 

Our team uses quantitative data to measure our progress toward our impact goals.  

                                         Progress in 2023

Output Data Table:

      Activity--------------Number of Trainees-------------Activity Date

• Enrolment-----------------6,014-------------------------Jan 1, 2023
• Started---------------------5,620-------------------------Feb 1, 2023
• Will complete-------------In progress-----------------June 1, 2023

                                         Progress in 2022

Output Data Table:

      Activity--------------Number of Trainees--------------Activity Date

• Enrolment-----------------2,412--------------------------Jan 1, 2022
• Started---------------------2,359--------------------------Feb 1, 2022
• Completed-----------------2,300-------------------------June 1, 2022

Outcome Data Table:

        Activity-------------Number of Trainees------------Outcome Date

• Improved skills------------2,300------------------------June 1, 2022
• Production-----------------2,186------------------------Sept 1, 2022
• Sales------------------------2,009------------------------Sept 1 - Dec 30
• NB: Improved skills refers to design skills, creative and problem-solving skills, inventive/innovative skills, and entrepreneurship skills.

Evidence / Indicators:

Number of trainees selling--------2,009

• Number of women and girls--------852---------42%
• Number living in rural areas--------764---------38%
• Number living in peri-urban--------1,012-------50%
• Number of poor people--------------1,103------55%
• Number with low-income------------823------41%
• Refugees and displaced persons---429--------21%
• Persons with disabilities-------------418--------18%

• Percentage of (trainees selling / trainees completed) = (2009/2300) x 100 = 87%.    
• 87% trainees started selling their products on the open market in the year 2022 indicates a positive impact on the youth and the country as a whole.

Feedback:

• Our organization receives thousands of phone calls, WhatsApp messages and SMS from unemployed youth, mostly girls living in low-income communities, peri-urban, rural areas, minorities and previously-excluded population across the country who are interested and want to participate in our program. 
• Parents of persons with disabilities, heads of refugees camps call our organization all the time to give us moral support for the great social/economic impact our solution is having on various communities across the nation.
• Our organization receives calls from elected officials, community leaders, district leaders, educators, technology providers, mentors in STEM field, parents & caregivers, and the general public, encouraging us for such great initiative.
• Our organization also receives calls, WhatsApp messages, SMS and emails from viewers across the world to say "YES, this is what Ghana need".    

                                              Progress in 2021

Output Data Table:

       Activity--------------Number of Trainees-----------Activity Date

• Enrolment-----------------1,056------------------------Jan 1, 2021
• Started---------------------1,032------------------------Feb 1, 2021
• Completed-----------------1,005-----------------------June 1, 2021 

Outcome Data Table:

       Activity---------------Number of Trainees-----------Outcome Date

• Improved skills-------------1,005-----------------------June 1, 2021
• Production--------------------967------------------------Sept 1, 2021
• Sales----------------------------821------------------------Sept 1 - Dec 30
• NB: Improved skills refers to design skills, creative and problem-solving skills, inventive/innovative skills, and entrepreneurship skills.

Evidence / Indicators:

Number of trainees selling-------821

• Number of women and girls-----------212-------26%
• Number living in rural areas-----------237-------29%
• Number living in peri-urban-----------513-------62%
• Number of poor people----------------475-------58%
• Number with low-income--------------305-------37%
• Refugees and displaced persons------159-------16%
• Persons with disabilities-----------------121--------12%

• Percentage of (trainees selling / trainees completed) = (821/1005) x 100 = 82%.
• 82% trainees started selling their products on the open market in the year 2021 indicates a positive impact on the youth and the country as a whole.

Feedback:

Read feedback from the year 2022.                                                                

The following Research findings and Reports provides evidence to support the existence and strength of those links in the Theory of Change. 

(1) A research findings by Chrysalis Advisors with TRECC and Jacobs Foundation, 2020 EDTECH ECOSYSTEM: GHANA AND COTE DIVOIRE. This is a comprehensive research on Educational Technology in Ghana and Cote Divoire. For Ghana: Page 7, EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: GHANAIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM GAPS (RELEVANCE) -- The curriculum content is overloaded and lacks attention to important skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and digital literacy and there is very little instructional leadership provided for teachers to deliver the curriculum. Again, on page 15, INTRODUCTION (line 4 & 5) -- Schools, community colleges, adult learning centers, and universities should be incubators of exploration and invention. The report went further to give to following recommendations.

RECOMMENDATION FOR THE EDTECH ECOSYSTEM, page 13.

Government stakeholders:

• Establish, communicate, and sustain a vision for transformative, equitable EdTech use.
• Build and maintain infrastructure.
• Support local innovation through early-stage risk capital.

EdTech Innovators:

• Raise awareness around EdTech benefits.
• Build the capacity among stakeholders.
• Focus on research and communications.

Impact Investors, Foundations, VC Firms:

• Support the growth of innovators, coalitions, and advocacy organizations.
• Product research, evaluation, and communication.
• Support EdTech business models that reach the most marginalized with both capital and counsel. 

The Community:

• Create Objective Evidence and Platforms for Selection of EdTech products.
• Sustain Change with Human Capacity and Long-Term Policy.
• Enable Business Models.

(2) A Publication on ResearchGate: ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AND YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT CHALLENGES IN AFRICA: GHANA IN PERSPECTIVE. The report revealed That, Entrepreneurship education has the mandate to equip the youth with functional knowledge and skills to build up their character, attitude and vision. It has vital role in developing eco-system that promotes innovation and solving unemployment challenges of nations. The report mentioned a number of interventions the Government of Ghana has initiated to create jobs, yet youth unemployment keeps on increasing. It revealed that youth unemployment in Ghana increased from 4.51% in 2015, 4.72% in 2016 to 4.9% in 2017. The study concluded that entrepreneurship education has the potentials of solving youth unemployment challenges in the society.

(3) A Stanbic Bank publication by Kojo Akoi-Larbi, Manager, Communications -- Stanbic Bank Ghana: Tackling Long-Term Unemployment Challenges in Ghana. The report pointed out that, the first step on this remedial journey is the provision of good quality and relevant education that do not only respond to the exigencies of today's world, but also prepares the minds of young people for the future. It stated that, around the world, the heads of some of the most successful companies - Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Apple's Tim Cook, Google's Sundar Pichai, AMD's Lisa Su, Tesla's Elon musk, have one thing in common: They're engineers -- They have had rigorous training in mathematical and scientific approaches to solving problems and are not shy to get into the technical details of the product or service. From that perspective, we should rebalance our educational structure towards STEM subjects.

The core technologies that powers our solution are: 

(A) WhatsApp Business -- is a free cross-platform messaging service. It lets users of iPhone and Android smartphones and Mac and Windows PC call and exchange text, photo, audio and video messages with others across the globe for free, regardless of the recipient's device. WhatsApp Business was built with the small business owner in mind. It makes interacting with customers easy by providing tools to automate, sort and quickly respond to messages. WhatsApp Business has the following features:

1) Business Profile.

2) Quick Replies.

3) Automatic greeting Message.

4) Automatic Away Message.

5) Contacts Labels.

6) Message Statistics.

7) Catalogs and Collections.

8) Interactive Business Message.

9) List Messages and Reply Buttons.

10) Facebook Shops Integration.

11) WhatsApp Payments.

12) WhatsApp Business Directory

• All the above features helps our organization to interact effectively with our trainees and other customers across the globe.
• WhatsApp Business helps our organization to build community. It provides us with the ability to organize and bring trainees together under one umbrella (WhatsApp Business Group).
• Our organization uses WhatsApp Business as an e-learning platform. It makes our group conversation simple and easily share instructions with trainees. 
• Our organization uses WhatsApp Business video call to watch trainees and the progress of their inventions live, anywhere in Ghana and offer advise and directions  to help them come out with better products.
• Through WhatsApp Business Profile, our organization is building trust and strong brand identity around our organization in an easy and affordable way. 
• WhatsApp business helps our organization to reach many customers anytime, anywhere in the world, that's it facilitates our global connections.
• WhatsApp Business status helps our organization to post information on our program and drive instant traffic.
• Through WhatsApp Business, our organization is able to get customer data, record them by backing them up to Google Drive.
• The end-to-end encryption of WhatsApp Business provides peace of mind within our organization, knowing that all communications are secure from hackers or other malicious intruders.

(B) SMS -- Our organization uses SMS to send emergency alerts such as deadline for registration to many trainees and other stakeholders simultaneously. We also use SMS to interact with trainees who don't have/uses smart phones. SMS technology doesn't require internet connection, so it allow our organization to send messages to our trainees in remote areas as long as there is a cell phone signal. 

(C) Mobile Money Aggregation: Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) -- This is connected to a mobile money App (an electronic wallet service) that enables our organization to receive money using a mobile phone from  multiple mobile money networks (MTN Ghana, Vodafone Ghana, and AirtelTigo Ghana). This provides a voting platform for our organization so viewers, family members and friends can vote for their favorite inventor/contestant during our annual national invention/innovation competition, using these networks. The voting platform serves as one of our revenue generation streams.

(D) Social Media -- (Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked-in). These digital technologies supports our organization to share information (text and multimedia on our programs with trainees, customers and other stakeholders across the globe).

                              *A woman judge to prove equity.

We make great effort to support the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion and are committed to anti-racism.

• Our organization hire people from different background including women and persons with disabilities, our job descriptions are gender-neutral. We have eliminated bias in the evaluation process and promotion opportunities.
• Our executive team portray diversity, equity and inclusion. We have men and women equally represented and they are from various cultural and religious background. We have a woman vice-president, a woman director, a woman judge and a woman presenter.
• Our organization acknowledge and honor multiple religious and cultural practices. We do these by focusing on holidays and celebrations, we offer floating holidays to accommodate the religious preferences of our team members.
• Our organization embraces a culture where every voice is welcome, heard and respected regardless of their age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, physical conditions, cultural background or country of origin.
• Our organization pays attention to gender pay equity. We have a balance gender pay for the same work done by both men and women.
• Our organization welcome a multilingual workforce. We make sure our team members feel secure and comfortable communicating in whatever language they find most suitable for them.
• Our organization has a strong and committed anti-discriminatory policy. We organize workshops and training on diversity, equity and inclusion for our team members periodically.
• Our organization make technology accessible to all members so information can easily be shared and accessed. We understand that our team members have unique needs.
• As a founder and president of the organization, i have an "open door" policy, i have personalize one-on-one discursions where team members feel comfortable to speak their minds honestly and openly.

Our organization also embraces diverse thinking for collective impact which helps us in generating ideas and get useful feedback while at the same time create an environment where everyone feels relevant and part of a shared mission and vision, and this happens through the following ways:

(1) A common agenda, shaped by collectively all members of our organization defining the problem and creating a shared vision to solve it;

(2) Shared measurement, based on an agreement among all members of our organization to track and share progress in the same way, which allows for continuous learning, improvement, and accountability;

(3) Mutually reinforcing activities, our organization integrates all members many different activities to maximize the end results;

(4) Continuous communication, our organization encourages continuous communication among all members which helps to build trust and forge new relationships;

(5) A "backbone" team, dedicated to aligning and coordinating the work of our organization.

Our business model for teaching invention to solve youth unemployment is based on providing young people with the tools, resources, education & training, and mentorship they need to create their own inventions. The key customers/beneficiaries are unemployed youth in the following categories (women & girls, poor, rural, peri-urban, low-income, persons with disabilities, refugees & internally-displaced persons, minorities & previously-excluded population), educational institutions, employers who hire youths and mentors in STEM fields. The products or services offered include online entrepreneurship training on various engineering topics such as electronics, robotics, 3D printing, and software development, physical workshops that provide hands-on experience of inventing products through prototyping sessions, support from experienced professionals during the invention process, access to grants for award winners from the annual national invention and innovation competition, so young people can build prototypes of their ideas, mentoring programs where successful inventors share their experiences with aspiring entrepreneurs. All these materials help equip young people with the necessary skills and knowledge required to invent useful new products that could potentially be monetized or sold as commercial goods. Young people need these kind of services because it is not always easy being creative when taking into account the many hurdles faced during times of economic crisis, especially among those underrepresented segments like minorities, newcomers and female populations. By having access to proper tools necessary for invention development together with inspiring mentors providing guidance along difficult steps taken throughout an entrepreneurial journey, job seekers can widen up outside-the-box thinking approaches towards social progress through entrepreneurship rather than following career paths only available from big organizations. With these approach, it is possible for them to focus on creating a sustainable source of income by utilizing available technology and resources instead of relying solely on traditional job opportunities within an increasingly competitive job market.               

                  Our plan for becoming financially sustainable

(1) Through registration fees: Those who participate in our annual national invention  and innovation competition pays registration fees. We're in constant talks with trainees to encourage them for more participation to help us generate more revenue.

(2) Through voting: Our organization has a voting platform supported by the three major telecommunication companies in Ghana, (MTN Ghana, Vodafone Ghana and AirtelTigo Ghana).Voting starts as soon as the competition starts and continues 24/7 every day till a voting deadline. When the competition is been aired on a national television, viewers can also vote for their favorite inventors on their cell phones. Every (GHS 1) accounts for (1 vote). A voter can vote (GHS 100) straight away for a contestant, it means that contestant gets (1oo votes) instantly. The voting results accounts for 30% of the total score whiles the judges score account for 70%. We plan increasing the voting to 50% which will increase voting revenue.

(3) Sponsorships: Our organization is in constant talks with companies and businessmen in Ghana for sponsorship packages to increase our revenue.

(4) Donations: Our organization goes on donation drive from time to time to raise funds. We plan to intensify it to raise more funds.

(5) Sales from products: Our organization has percentage in each product sold by trainees. We plan to scale-up sales by opening a functioning online store to intensity marketing in order to raise more revenue.

(6) Partnerships: Best Inventor Ghana (BIG) is a proving program and the market opportunity is huge, about 100 million dollars and our organization is looking for partnership from all over the world to scale-up our program.

(7) Grant funding: Our organization is in constant search for grant funding from prestigious organizations such as; 

• MIT Solve by participating in their annual Global Challenges, which is a marketplace for social impact innovation with a mission to drive innovation to solve world challenges;
• Lemelson Foundation which funds invention organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa, where Ghana is located;
• Reach for Change Ghana which empowers local change leaders and provide them with new opportunities and knowledge;
• Jacobs Foundation which has a track record of investing in educational technology and start-ups in Ghana. A research finding by Chrysalis Advisors with TRECC and Jacobs foundation, 2020 EDTECH ECOSYSTEM: GHANA AND COTE D'IVOIRE, page 38, shows a track record of the investment made by Jacobs foundation on educational technology and start-ups in Ghana.

               Examples of Successful Financial Sustainability             

                       Total revenue generated in 2022

1.  Total registration fees-------------------GHS  9000
2.  Cash received from voting-------------GHS  4628
3.  Sponsorship: ONE HD-TV--------------GHS  2000
4.  Donations------------------------------------GHS 67300
5.  Money received from sales-------------GHS 18500

                                Total------------------GHS 101,428                                                                            ------------------USD     8,452

                       Total revenue generated in 2021

1. Total registration fees--------------------------GHS    700
2. Cash received from voting--------------------GHS  15749
3. Sponsorship: Kasapreko Ltd------------------GHS   3000
4. Sponsorship: ATV/GNTV-----------------------GHS   8000
5. Donations-------------------------------------------GHS 52500
6. Money received from sales--------------------GHS   9500

                                    Total--------------------GHS 89,449                                                                          --------------------USD   7,454

                      Total revenue generated from 2015 to 2020

                                    Total-------------------GHS 184,600                                                                          -------------------USD   15,383

NB: The founder and president of the organization (Samuel Darko), invested an initial (seed) capital of GHS 150,000 (USD 12,500) from his personal account.

Total revenue generated and invested from 2015 to 2022

• Initial (seed) capital-------------------------------GHS 150,000
• 2015 to 2020 revenue-----------------------------GHS 184,600
• 2021 revenue----------------------------------------GHS   89,449
• 2022 revenue----------------------------------------GHS 101,428

                                      Total----------------------GHS 525,477                                                                      --------------------USD   43,789  

Conclusion: Our organization has able to financially sustain itself successfully since June, 2015 to date, through such revenue streams.